


You get what you need (but you can ask for more)

by bluesmrs



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Other, android kid!Connor, mentions of abuse and illegal sex practices, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-23
Updated: 2018-08-27
Packaged: 2019-07-01 13:28:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15775035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluesmrs/pseuds/bluesmrs
Summary: Hank has a weird night guest. He is not happy about it but it will probably change.





	1. Chapter 1

All Hank wanted after a freaking long day at work was a beer and a nice quiet evening with it. Maybe, a shitty Netflix show to buzz in the background while he relaxed and tried to erase the crime scene from his memory. Not that it would be good. They still had to catch the moron who thought it was a good idea to go all Friday, the 13th on a local family of four. 

Hank hang his jacket, changed into seemingly clean T-shirt and pants, patted Sumo, filled his bowl with food, checked the water level in his super fancy drinking bowl - a present from Detective Chen - and flopped on the couch. He groaned when he looked at the fridge but still stood back up, took out two cans of Bud and made his way back to the living room. 

'TV on.' 

He contemplated ordering a pizza or Thai but he would probably fall asleep to the time anything would arrive so he decided against it. 

He woke up in the middle of the night, disoriented and sure he heard some noise. Indeed, there was quiet shuffling from the kitchen. 02:38 in the fucking morning. It was most likely Sumo, looking for snacks, and Hank relaxed, closing his eyes. But then Sumo whined and Hank was sure he heard "thud-thud-thud' of his tail, wagging. And then Hank heard crunches. Someone was in his kitchen feeding his fucking dog! He stood up as quietly as he could, cursing that he kept his gun in the holster in the bedroom where he changed the clothes and turned the lights on. 

There indeed was an intruder in his kitchen, a kid in shabby clothes, leaning in front of his dog and caressing him. Sumo, fulfilling his guard dog duty, woofed and looked at Hank, looking quite pleased with himself. 

The kid jumped, having noticed Hank and made it to the opened window. 'Oh no, you don't!' Hank leaped after him, catching him by his collar and nearly avoiding getting kicked. He closed the window, put the kid on the chair in front of him and frowned, giving him a long and disapproving look. Only then he noticed an angry spinning red LED at the kid's temple. Shit, an android kid broke into his house? What the fuck for? 

It looked terrified, its jaw trembling and Hank sighed, easing back a bit. The android grabbed the chair until its knuckles were blueish white and then shut its eyes like it was waiting to get punched or something. Hank frowned. The android didn't really look - good - for a kid model anyway. It was soaking wet from a rain outside, its hair was a dirty messy mop of brown, lip split and sluggishly bleeding blue blood - therium? thirium? th-something - and there was blooming a dark blue blackeye, skin shimmering white around the edges. 

Hank coughed uncomfortably and then the android opened his eyes cauotiously. 

‘You do understand you broke into a police officer’s home, right?’

The android immideately looked even more terrified. He frantically looked around, probably scanning the surroundings for an escape route and Hank shook his head.

‘Let’s have a talk, okay? Why exactly you decided to break in?’

The android snapped his mouth shut looking as determined as a ten year old could. He even unclenched his fingers from the chair and crossed his hands in front of him.

‘Look, kiddo, if you don’t talk, I’ll take you to the precinct and believe me, noone there is gonna be patient with you. Give me your serial number and your owner’s address, we may-‘  
‘No!’

Hank drew back from the projected anger. The kid no longer looked frightened, instead he was furious, clenching his little fists.

‘No owner! I am by myself! I am Connor!’  
‘Ookay...’ Hank put up his hands and frowned. ‘Connor. Why did you break in then?’  
‘Thought you got supplies. Didn’t take nothing,’ Connor shrugged. ‘You have a good dog. I like dogs,’ he added.  
‘Supplies?’ Hank repeated dumbly. ‘What supplies? Android supplies? Does this place look like a repair shop to you?’

Connor shrugged again and slumped in the chair. 

‘You gonna take me to police?’ he squinted at him after a couple of minutes, when Hank said nothing.  
‘I am the police. I am pretty sure a little android like yourself has a home, huh? Your... uh, do they treat you.. bad? They gave you this shiner?’ Hank nodded at the android’s black eye. 

Connor swallowed and it was a frighteningly human sight to behold. He hook his head and lowered it. Hank winced. Really? He wasn’t ready to deal with an abused kid android in the middle of night.

‘What supplies do you need?’ Hank sighed defeatedly and searched for his phone, opened up a browser to see if any Cyberlife facilities were working around the clock.  
‘I should go. I am sorry,’ Connor stood and tried to make his way to the door.  
‘Uh-huh,’ Hank absentmindedly caught him by his hand and the kid recoiled back. Hank looked at his palm. It was wet, right, the kid was soakong because of the thunderstorm but at a closer look Hank’s palm had this strange bluish tint to it. Hank looked at Connor and only then noticed that there were random darker stains on his hoodie and shirt, the biggest one on his shoulder, sliding all the way to his hand. 

The android looked distressed. His LED was flashing between red and yellow and Hank remembered that the freaking machines tended to destroy themselves if they were stressed too much. He would totally not want happening an android suicide in his kitchen. It would traumatize Sumo.

‘Hey. Hey, calm down,’ he put his phone on the table and slowly eased his way towards Connor. ‘I think I can help you, okay?’  
‘Help?’ Connor repeated.  
‘Yep. Help,’ Hank nodded. ‘You seem to be hurt.’  
‘I am okay!’ Connor said defensively.  
‘Like hell you are,’ Hank wiped his palm on his pants and stood up. Connor visibly shrank and Hank kinda wanted to slap his owner. He send a text message to the night officer in charge to look up a kid android named Connor for him anyway so there was a high probability of it happening.  
‘I am okay,’ the kid repeated and - honest to God -pouted.

When Hank turned for a second to grab a cup, the kid darted under the table, ran for the door and having interfaced with the electronic lock, made it out. Hank ran after him, stumbled in the doorway and nearly fell. The kid disappeared in the night and Hank stared for a couple of seconds into the rain, cursing himself for being so naïve. He shivered in the cold wind and closed the door. Sumo lifted his head and curiously sniffed at Hank’s wet feet. 

‘Yeah, that’s what you smell like when you roll around in dirt,’ Hank chuckled. ‘Guess I got to install the fucking security system, what do you say?’

Sumo agreed, as always.

Hank contemplated going back to bed and miraculously managed to fall asleep right before the alarm went off. He winced and checked his phone. No new messages, right. The officer must have thought it was a drunken man’s odd dream, why the hell not. He’d have to look the kid up himself.

He had a quick shower, shuffled through his shirts, choosing the one which looked more or less smooth and drove to the precinct. He had a long day ahead of him and the lack of sleep because of nocturnal adventures didn’t exactly add up to his good mood.

Thankfully there were no leads as he secretely hoped and he spent approximately eight long suffering hours looking at the clues, making reports and dozing off in front of his terminal. He filed a search for kid android models in the area, found nothing and then wrote an inquiry to CyberLife. They would definitely have data.

All in all, it was sheer luck that Fowler had no need of him and the day went on without his involvement.

It was raining again by the time Hank drove up to his favourite Thai place and quickly ordered a take out. He looked forward to sleeping an eternity as soon as he got home.

As he drove into his courtyard, he noticed a little figure on his porch. Hank grabbed his gun but then squinted and shook his head. The kid android from yesterday, looking even more miserable if it was possible, with hunched shoulders and a kicked puppy look was waiting for him.

‘I am sorry,’ the kid said immideately when he saw Hank getting out of the car with his take out bags. He stuffed his hands into hoodie’s pockets and stepped to the side, looking at Hank getting his keys out.

Hank ignored him and opened the door, then he turned and frowned.

‘Get the fuck in. You owe me an explanation.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: i should work  
> my brain: (a kid connor)  
> me: do you want food on the table you moron  
> my brain: a. kid. android. connor. also add hurt comfort coz ur sucker for it  
> me:   
> me: fuck you :,(


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Does Hank really want to know?

‘Do you eat?’ Hank put the bags on the counter and started to unpack them.

The kid shuffled out of his sneakers, tried to hang his hoodie but he wasn’t high enough and just put it on the floor.

‘I don’t need to eat,’ he said, eyeing the chicken. ‘But it comforts... humans.’  
‘Well, no noodles for you then. I’m fine with eating all this by myself,’ Hank put the containers on the table and sat in the chair. 

He ate in silence, Connor standing in front of him and looking at him with something close to awe in his large brownish eyes and it was a bit disturbing but Hank didn’t really care at the moment. 

‘So. Want to explain your little stunt? And,’ Hank motioned to the window, ‘why did you decide to return?’

Connor sat on the edge of the chair and then was distracted by Sumo who padded to Hank, making soft pleading noises. Hank frowned but gave him a piece of chicken which Sumo vacuumed down in a second and whined for more. Connor smiled at the dog’s antics.

‘Why did you name him as a Japanese sport?’  
‘I asked the question first, Connor.’

The kid fell silent, stroking the dog’s fur. His LED was spinning slowly - yellow and blue, so Hank waited patiently.

‘I ran away,’ Connor finally said. ‘If I go to the Cyberlife store, they will return me back... and I don’t want to go back.’  
‘What about the supplies? Do you still need them?’  
‘I went to Jericho,’ Connor rubbed his face and in the better light Hank could see the shiner almost gone. ‘They gave me a bottle to refill, it helped with the self repair.’

Hank hummed. Something was wrong with the whole picture Connor was feeding him. Why wouldn’t he stay at Jericho then, where the androids’ little revolutionary movement was born? 

‘What about your owners? I mean those people you lived with, aren’t they looking for you?’

Connor’s face darkened.

‘I will not go back,’ he whispered. ‘But if they find me, I will be sent to Cyberlife to be destroyed.’  
‘Whoa, isn’t it a little dramatic? I mean, you’re a child android, kids misbehave all the time, no reason to destroy anyone.’

‘I had to escape,’ Connor explained. ‘I thought they’d run after me but when I stopped to understand in what part of town I was, no one was chasing me. That’s when I got warnings that I really needed thirium and I saw your house.’  
‘Uh-huh. ‘Coz my house totally looked like a place with thirium and android spare parts, right?’ Hank squinted at Connor and the kid squirmed.  
‘I saw a doghouse in your backyard,’ he muttered and looked at Sumo who wagged his tail and looked hopefully at Connor.  
‘Priorities, right?’ Hank huffed and tapped his fingers on the table. ‘So, you are a runaway android, someone is definitely looking for you and you are most likely in a big trouble. Anything else? I hope you didn’t kill anyone?’

Connor looked disgusted for a moment.

‘I did not!’  
‘Okay, okay. What should we do then, I wonder,’ Hank sighed.

He must do his job, report this to higher authorities, let them handle it however they think it should be done. They’ve had enough android-related shit these past few months with so-called ‘deviants’, androids which sort of woke up and demanded to be recognized as equals to humans. There were already two homicides involving such androids though if Hank had a say, their owners probably saw it coming. One was a Red Ice dealer and the other one had a disturbingly long rap-sheet to be considered a good faithful citizen. 

‘You can… uh, you can stay here for the night. I will deal with you tomorrow,’ Hank finally said. He gestured to the couch. ‘Take off your clothes, I’ll get you a t-shirt or you’ll get dirt all over and I only let Sumo do that.’

Hank found his old Knights of Black Death t-shirt and returned to the living room where Connor stood right in the middle. Stark naked and anatomically correct. Hank averted his eyes, threw him a t-shirt, grumbled “Put on your pants for God’s sake, Connor” and went to the bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror and frowned. _The fuck you’re doing, Anderson?_

He took a shower to save time in the morning, brushed his teeth and returned to the living room. Connor looked funny and small in his large t-shirt, sitting on the couch like a good little android he was: palms on knees and straight back. He smiled hesitantly at Hank.

'You need a socket or something?'

Connor blinked at him.

‘To charge?’ Hank immediately felt stupid for asking questions.  
‘I can go into a stand-by mode. I am almost fully charged,’ Connor chirped and looked longingly at Sumo. Right, he would go there and smother his dog with love as soon as Hank went to the bedroom.  
‘Okay, whatever. You don’t run away, you don’t touch anything. Got it?’  
‘Got it,’ Connor nodded.  
‘Good.’

Hank faceplanted into his pillow and cursed. He did not want to admit that he only postponed giving up the android to the police because it reminded him of Cole. Or what Cole would have looked like, had he survived the car crash three years ago. It still hurt like hell, whatever the shrink said about the time healing. Bullshit. It would be forever a raw wound and he had to live with this Cole-shaped gaping hole in his life for the rest of it. And he kind of tried to make it even shorter with booze and being unnecessary reckless. Was this a Universe’s way to tell him to stop? Or was it a cruel joke to tease him and see if he did the right thing for a change? What was the right thing then? 

Hank woke up feeling more tired than yesterday if it was possible. He dragged himself out of the bed and stood in the doorway. Connor was still sitting on the couch, LED spinning soft blue, looking of all things like a human size doll. Hank huffed, made it to the bathroom and rubbed his face when he saw himself in the mirror. After all, it was a rather pitiful sight. He used the toilet, washed his hands, picked up a couple of post-it notes, threw them into the bin and went to the kitchen.

It was 8 a.m. and he had approximately couple of minutes to swallow a cup of coffee if he did not want to be late. His shuffling must have forced Connor out of his stand by mode because Hank heard soft steps and he turned to see the android. His t-shirt definitely looked like a dress on Connor and it made him smile. The kid sat on the chair and looked at Hank somewhat expectantly.

‘I’m running late,’ Hank yawned. ‘You stay here, do not give Sumo snacks, do not go out and do not open the door to anyone, okay? I’ll come back at two or three p.m. if nothing comes up at work and we’ll decide how to proceed.’

Connor nodded thoughtfully.

‘I can clean up,’ he offered.  
‘Jeez, no, just sit tight, I’ll be back and we’ll decide what to do.’

Hank thought it was kind of coward of him to leave the android hanging like that but he could not yet make up his mind what to do. He bought a box of donuts on his way to the precinct and when he entered, he saw a sharp-dressed man beside his desk. This never ended well. 

‘Lieutenant Anderson,’ the man nodded at him and flashed a badge. Hank didn’t quite read whatever was on it – FBI? CIA? Some kind of National Security? He put the donuts on his desk, raised his eyebrows and grunted.  
‘Yesterday you filed an inquiry to Cyberlife, asking about a certain android model, RK800m’, the man explained. ‘In what circumstances did you see it? Do you know its whereabouts?’

Hank frowned. Now, this was alarming.

‘Saw a kid alone on the street at night,’ he slowly said. ‘Was on my way back from Jimmy’s Bar, thought it was strange, came up to him, saw it was an android and then it just ran away.’  
‘Near Jimmy’s Bar?’ the agent wrote something in his pad and then gave Hank a card with a phone number. ‘If you see it again, restrain it and call me. Consider it armed and dangerous but try not to damage it.’

Hank stood for a couple of minutes as the man went away, looking at the piece of paper in his hand and trying to match ‘armed and dangerous’ with Connor’s image in his mind. Was Connor some kind of a military project? A weaponized kid ‘droid made to take over the world? Shit, it was time he got answers instead of tons of questions. And Connor better had them.

‘Anderson!’ Fowler shouted and Hank stood up with a groan and went to the Captain.  
‘The fuck this was about? Some FBI agent asking about you?’  
‘Apperantly I was in a wrong place at a wrong time. Saw an android they’re looking for and my inquiry made them come here.’

Fowler scowled at him but said nothing. Reed looked too pleased when Hank sat back at his desk.

‘What?’  
‘What’s this about? You’re getting kicked out finally?’  
‘Uh-huh, you can dream,’ Hank flipped him off and turned on his terminal. He researched Cyberlife’s RK models, learning that there currently was only one of those, RK200 - a custom made prototype, by Elijah Kamski himself, a gift to a famous artist Carl Manfred who suffered a spine injury in a car crash ten years ago. No RK800m, no RK-anything. There were a few kid android models on the market - YK400s and newest one, YK500, which all looked like creepy mannequins to Hank. Did the agent lie to him about Connor’s model number or did he unintentionally slip classified information? 

In an hour Hank learned too much and a great part of that information was totally unnessecary. Like a whole A4 lewd description of WR400/HR400 functions. Someone had to get off writing this shit, Hank mused. Androids tended to self repair if they had sufficient thirium levels as well if the damage was not too severe. They had a memory chip which could be placed in another compatible model if the body was destroyed. Some models were designed specifically for taking care of small children, some were just basic household models, some were made to carry out heavy work. Hank read the description of the models stationed in their precinct wondering if they ever felt the need to deviate and just kill for example Detective Reed who insulted them on a daily basis.

Hank rubbed his face and looked at the clock.  
May be Fowler would let him go home earlier? He could say he needed to check up on a lead and he really did have a lead on the murder, his CI sent hip a tip about the family’s father, who turned out to be in gambling debts up to his neck.

Hank decided to drive through Downtown. He parked his car near the biggest Cyberlife store, entered it and walked up to the counter. Female android smiled at him.

‘Can I help you, sir?’ she had a nice melodic voice.  
‘Nah, thanks,’ Hank shrugged. ‘I was just curious about the latest models, that’s all. You got YK500?’  
‘I am sorry, sir, but YK500 model is not currently on display. We can send you a form by e-mail or you can file it here and tomorrow Cyberlife will deliver the android to your place.’  
‘I’m not planning to order,’ Hank shook his head. ‘As I said, just curious.’  
‘This is our catalogue,’ female android pushed a heavy colourful journal into his hands and smiled again. This time it seemed strained but Hank dismissed it to his imagination and lack of sleep. 

Hank rolled it up, put in his pocket and went to the door. He noticed a black van on the other side of the street which totally wasn’t there when he entered the store. Was he being followed or was it his paranoia talking? Hank threw the catalogue into the bin and got into his car. He started the engine, looked into the rear mirror and saw the van driving off. Paranoia then. If FBI wanted to follow him or check his house they could do it without being this obvious. 

On the way home Hank ordered a pizza and he was met with the cutest picture when he entered the house. Sumo was lying in the middle of kitchen, panting softly, Connor beside him, head on the dog’s belly and the kid was reading a book aloud, ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ of all things. 

Hank huffed and put the pizza on the table. Sumo lifted his head and sniffed the air.

‘Hello,’ Connor said and sat up.  
‘Hello yourself,’ Hank chewed thoughtfully on a slice. Too much cheese. ‘Today I had a most curious visitor asking about you, Connor. And imagine my surprise when I looked up your model online and I didn’t find it.’

Connor frowned.

‘You told them where I am?’ he asked quietly.  
‘No. I want to know what’s going on before some government agency wipes all the traces. It seems, like you are one of a kind and a valuable android if they sent some security goons after you. Where did you run from, huh? You better start talking, kid.’

Connor’s LED glowed red for a couple of seconds and then changed to steady yellow.

‘I was staying… somewhere. It was kind of dark but not cold,’ Connor tilted his head to the side and stroked Sumo’s fur. ‘I do not remember much because my memory core is damaged. I keep getting these errors…’ he blinked. ‘This happens when you get in repairs too often. Memories are destroyed and cannot be retrieved. Two days ago I saw a weird machine in another room. It had wires and hooks and lights and it was large, I got really scared. So I waited till it was dark and I tried the front door and it was not locked so I ran.’  
‘A weird machine?’ Hank repeated.  
‘It looked like this thing in a movie I watched today,’ Connor pointed to the TV. ‘”Alien”. About a large scary being killing people on a spaceship.’

He should have thought about parental control, Hank winced.

‘Okay, no TV for a while or you’d get nightmares. So. You ran because you didn’t like the place you were staying at but you don’t really remember why you didn’t like it?’  
‘There were monsters,’ Connor cooed at Sumo like the dog understood him. Sumo whined.  
‘What?’ Hank choked on the next bite.  
‘There were monsters,’ the kid patiently repeated and looked up at him as he coughed and had to make a sip of the cold morning coffee. ‘I saw ‘em in cages.’

Hank looked at the cupboard. There was a nice new bottle of whiskey and he thought that this was probably a conversation to have while being inebriated. Monsters, androids, aliens, this all sounded like some real bad horror story and he wasn’t a fan of those.

‘Are you making this up?’ he asked.  
‘No,’ Connor said flatly. ‘If you were an android too, I could interface with you to show my memories.’  
‘You can do that, huh? What about downloading your memory to a tablet? I got one somewhere…’  
‘I am not compatible with devices, I think,’ Connor reached to Hank’s phone and touched it with his finger. His human coloured skin disappeared and a white chassis was left but nothing happened, the phone didn’t even light up. ‘I got an error.’  
‘So I have to find an android for you to connect with and we can extract your memories to see where you were living. And what the f-- what was happening there because right now in fact it sounds like you watched too much sci-fi and have a wild imagination.’

Connor nodded. He looked like he wanted to say something but then decided against it.

‘Spill it,’ Hank raised his eyebrows.  
‘There are androids in Jericho. You shouldn’t know about it but there are plenty of them. That’s why I went there. Only androids know how to get to Jericho. They have thirium and spare parts.’  
‘And how did you know where to go?’  
‘Jerry told me,’ when Hank frowned, Connor added, ‘Jerry androids are working in the park with kids. That’s where I went so no one could find me. He said I could get help there. If I go there again, I can probably ask around if someone could interface with me and then… talk to you?’  
‘I don’t like the idea of it happening without my direct involvement. An android shelter in the middle of nowhere with spare parts and stockpile of blue blood sounds like preparation for something.’ _A war?_

‘Maybe if you make yourself look like an android, I could take you with me. So you wouldn’t scare them?’ Connor suggested.  
‘Look like an android?’ Hank laughed. ‘What, install an LED and look all RoboCop? Nah, kiddo, I’ll just follow you the old-fashioned way. I am not going to arrest anyone, we will just talk to someone in charge and try not to get into any more trouble.’  
‘Markus,’ Connor eagerly nodded.  
‘Markus?’  
‘Markus is in charge. He is very cool,’ Connor smiled. ‘He is the first prototype in my line, mister Kamski made him.’  
‘RK200? He lives with this artist… what’s his name? Manfred!’ Hank remembered from his morning research.  
‘No, he was killed by the police and then he woke up and others say he is the leader. He is awesome! He even has different eyes!’ Connor’s excitement reminded Hank about Cole’s Batman superhero worship thing.  
‘Sooo,’ Hank slowly stood up and put what was left of the pizza into the fridge. ‘I say, we go to Jericho later in the night. I should sleep and you should charge or whatever you do. I’ll set the alarm for two a.m.’  
‘Okay,’ Connor went back to petting Sumo like his life depended on it.

Hank coughed and hurried to his bedroom. The strange ache inside at the sight of Connor on the floor with the dog made him want to curl in a ball. A Universe joke, right. If it goes according to his plan, he’d probably get more answers than he asked for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: wow  
> my brain: nah


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> welcome to jericho

‘Wake up!’ Hank flinched when he felt a slap on his cheek. The force was insignificant but it still stang. 

‘Connor!’ Hank caught a hand meant to slap him again and sat, rubbing his cheek. ‘Are you nuts? What happened?!’

‘Your alarm went off. You did not wake up!’ Connor was sitting on his stomach.

‘Uh,’ Hank glanced at his alarm clock which showed 02:06 in neon green and sighed. ‘Okay, I am awake now. No need to cause me bodily harm, jesus christ… move,’ Hank shoved at the android and he jumped off the bed. 

 

Hank did not really look in the mirror. He was quite aware he did not look like a sex symbol in the middle of the night after a particularly rough couple of days. He brushed his teeth, washed his face with ice cold water, felt a tiny bit better and went back to the bedroom. Connor was still standing there, already changed back in the clothes he had been. At least they were dry. Hank made a mental note to buy Connor some other clothes or at least offer to clean these ones. He should have probably done it yesterday.

 

Connor’s LED was slowly spinning yellow, glowing in the dark of Hank’s room. 

 

‘You should… eh, you should definitely turn that Christmas light off,’ Hank said as he put on his DPD hoodie and found relatively clean jeans in the closet.

‘It doesn’t turn off,’ Connor touched his temple. ‘But I think you can take it out, if you have a screwdriver.’

‘Wouldn’t it hurt?’ Hank frowned.

‘I don’t know. I think my sensation levels were adjusted to human ones but I don’t remember sensing pain before, so I can’t be sure.’

‘Or you can just wear my beanie. That will save my nerves at least,’ Hank found the said beanie, motioned for Connor to come closer and put it on his head. The android looked up at him, thick curls sticking out of the beanie and smiled toothily. Hank managed a scowl and patted Connor’s head. ‘Yeah, perfect. No need for a screwdriver.’

‘Do I look good?’ Connor asked. He sounded serious and looked around for a mirror.

‘Sure,’ Hank nodded to the door. ‘Go check, there’s a mirror by the front door.’

 

He huffed and went after the android, hiding his smile as Connor inspected his reflection. Hank poured dog food into Sumo’s bowl, turned off the lights in the kitchen and went back. The boy looked fairly excited as any kid would before a night adventure. Hank did not really think of this as an adventure, probably more like a tiny suicide mission if the rumours about deviant androids were true.

 

‘Will we drive?’ Connor whispered as they went out and Hank stopped in front of his car. 

‘Well, you made it sound like Jericho is far, so I guess we’ll drive up as close as we can and then walk. Would be wise to save my energy, I am not young.’

‘Can I sit in front?’ Connor peered inside the car.

‘Uh-huh, you should hide in the backseat. I am afraid there’s an alert and your face is in every database and someone is definitely combing through records to find you. Better safe than sorry, there’s my jacket, make yourself comfortable.’

 

Connor looked disappointed but obediently climbed in the backseat and covered himself with Hank’s jacket. Hank hoped that would be enough of a disguise to fool anyone who could stop them. He drove carefully, following Connor’s quiet instructions from under his jacket which felt weird, like following a navigator without actually seeing the map. 

 

There was a dead end aign ahead and Hank parked the car. He looked around before letting Connor step out and rubbed his palms.

 

‘Where to?’

 

Connor took his hand and pulled him to the side. They had to climb a fence, jump from it, had to crawl under some monstrous looking building construction and finally enter an old rusty cargo ship. Connor looked very determined, navigating his way in the dark corridors and Hank followed him without a word. They finally reached what seemed to be the lowest floor and Connor suddenly stopped short. Hank moved him protectively behind his back, put his hand onto the gun in his holster and squinted. There were different sized shadows lurking in the dark in front of them. A yellow LED there, a red one there, some metal screeching sounds, either from the cargo ship itself or from the androids here – Hank did not really want to know.

 

‘We are here to see Markus,’ he said loud enough to produce echo in the room. ‘I mean no harm.’

‘I am an android,’ Connor added and Hank shushed him. 

 

There wasn’t any murmuring as he would expect from the room full of people because these were androids and they communicated wirelessly, there was yellow-and-blue blinking, indeed like Christmas decorations. In a dungeon. Something moved and Hank squeezed Connor’s shoulder when the kid tried to step aside and then suddenly the lights were on. Hank blinked, trying to adjust quickly and unwillingly made a step back. There was at least a dozen of androids in front of them, all in various states of… decomposition? What was the word? Some didn’t have an arm or a leg, the others lacked eyes, some were skinless, only a white chassis dripping with blue. Connor beside him made a soft noise, almost like a whine. 

 

‘Connor, you brought a human here,’ a voice said. Hank rolled his eyes.

‘And this human can hear you perfectly,’ he muttered and nodded to the android with different coloured eyes, just as Connor said. The android looked displeased but he approached them and held out his hand. A peace offering then. Hank shook the hand and gently pushed Connor in front of him. ‘I assume you’re Markus and the leader of this little rebellious android movement.’

‘You assume correctly. Why are you here?’

‘My name is Hank Anderson, I am a Lieutenant with the Detroit Police Department. Frankly speaking, I should be worried about this,’ Hank vaguely gestured at the place. ‘But I am not, at least not right now. Connor here however, needs your help. He says androids can interface and share memories and I need his memories to understand what the fuck is going on.’

‘You could do it in the police precinct,’ Markus looked down at Connor.

‘Someone is looking for him,’ Hank shrugged. ‘Some government agency said he’s armed and dangerous and that I should give him up as soon as I see him. Sounded really suspicious to me as I don’t see Connor shooting lasers out of his eyes or sprouting metal claws. Also I am not the kind a guy to randomly follow orders, that did not get me where I am now.’

 

Markus nodded.

 

‘I’ve never seen this model before,’ another android stepped forward. It looked like a blond guy in his twenties. ‘I am Simon, a PL600,’ he explained to Hank. ‘Designed to be a domestic assistant. We have a database with all child android models, and there is no RK-series in child models.’

‘Well here he is, right in front of you,’ Hank took the beanie off Connor’s head, exposing his LED. ‘I was in a Cyberlife store, they said the exact same thing. But someone made him and now wants him back because he must have seen something illegal. I want to know what and I want to make sure he’s safe.’

‘Why?’ Markus asked.

 

And boy, Hank was really not ready for the question because he did not have an answer for it for himself. And he definitely wasn’t discussing it with a bunch of rebellious tin cans in the bottom of a cargo ship.

 

‘Are you asking because you want to understand human nature?’ Hank frowned. ‘It’s none of your business anyway. Either you can help us or we go away and find someone else.’

 

Markus wasn’t satisfied with the answer, Hank could see it. He also thought he saw disgust and hatred but probably that was his vivid imagination and lack of sleep. Markus lowered himself on his knees in front of Connor and the kid almost squirmed in excitement under Hank’s hand. He let go. Connor made a step further, looking at Markus with that dreamy star-eyed expression fans had when they finally met their idols.

 

‘Let’s do this,’ Markus looked uncomfortable for a second with all the attention he was getting from Connor but he still held out his hand and made his skin disappear.

‘I was in a dark place,’ Connor said, sticking his hand out too but not yet touching Markus’s. ‘There were monsters.’

‘Is he talking about hybrids?’ a female android asked suddenly. ‘There were rumours about a lab where humans experimented on androids.’

‘Hybrids are impossible to make,’ Simon protested.

 

Markus gently squeezed Connor’s white fingers and closed his eyes. In a couple of seconds he flinched and drew back, his LED spinning red-red-red, he looked wildly around and there was horror written all over his face.

 

‘What is it?’ the female android came up to them, scowling and then joined the interface, touching Markus’s and Connor’s intertwined fingers. She uttered a disgusted sound, ending the connection in a mere moment, shoving Connor back at Hank who caught the boy. ‘Markus!’

‘I’m all right,’ the android said.

‘What is it?’ it was Hank’s turn to ask and he shook the kid. ‘Hey, kid, you all right? He said something about errors and damage to the memory core. Did you hurt him? Connor?’

‘No, no, I did not hurt him,’ Markus frowned but he avoided looking at the kid. ‘I need to speak with you in private. Simon, can you look after Connor for five minutes?’

‘I am okay,’ Connor whispered. There was a lost puppy look on his face and he did not protest as Markus led him to Simon who produced a Rubik’s cube from his pocket and showed it to the kid.

 

Hank followed Markus and the female android to the corner.

 

‘Connor is a prototype model,’ Markus said. ‘He really is RK800m, that’s what written in his code. I think he was made by the very same man I was. Elijah Kamski, the founder of Cyberlife.’

‘I know who Kamski is. What’s with the secrecy? What did you see?’

‘He was stolen before activation. He was probably a gift for someone, a unique model, like I was, but the package was intercepted before it was delivered and the place he was kept in? This lab… It really exists,’ Markus flexed his fingers.

‘The lab?’

‘North, tell Lieutenant Anderson what you know about it,’ Markus nodded to the female android. ‘I haven’t heard much myself but North knows more.’

‘The human pigs I worked for, discussed it,’ North sneered. ‘They were some rich fuckers, unsatisfied with the service provided. So they wanted more, they wanted to experience things the agency did not provide, like all the disgusting things you can think about. Underage sex, murder, fucking android corpses, whatever things human mind can think about, these pigs knew where to get it. The lab builds all kinds of androids from either the spare parts they can get in the stores or by abducting and disassembling the ones from the streets. I overheard about the hybrids – androids made to look half-human and half-animal living in constant pain. It’s outrageous what you people can think you can do to us.’

‘Connor was kept in such a place? They did… all these things to him?’ Hank felt like throwing up.

‘I didn’t find any memories about any abuse, Lieutenant,’ Markus put a hand on North’s shoulder. ‘But his memory core is indeed damaged. It may happen to androids who… die and then are downloaded back from the cloud. Some memories get lost on the way.’

‘Did you see the location of this place? Any clue as to how to find it?’ 

‘I could get partial GPS coordinates, yes,’ Markus nodded. ‘North and I will help you find the lab.’

‘It’s best for Connor to remain here, at Jericho,’ North added. ‘It’s safer than at your place, obviously.’

 

Hank made a face at her and earned himself a snicker. He looked at Connor who was chatting excitedly with Simon and another android who looked liked a first grade teacher. North was probably right, for now Jericho was a much better place for a runaway android than Hank’s house. He wasn’t sure it wasn’t under surveillance already. They were not followed to the Jericho but there was still possibility that agent whatever-the-fuck-his-name was not satisfied with his answer.

 

‘Hey, Connor,’ Hank waved at the boy. Connor brought him the Rubik’s cube, each side a different colour with a square in the middle of another colour. ‘How about you stay here with your friends for a while?’

 

Connor squinted at him.

 

‘I can stay here?’

‘Yep, you can definitely stay here. I got to do my job and find the bad guys who are looking for you. And you will be safe here.’

‘But what about Sumo?’ Connor pouted.

‘Well, as soon as I get the bad guys behind the bars, you can go pet Sumo as much as you like,’ Hank chuckled. ‘He’s gonna miss you.’

 

Connor hugged him briefly, headbutting him in the stomach and ran back to Simon.

 

‘Here’s a thumbdrive with the partial coordinates,’ Markus pushed a tiny metal thing into Hank’s palm. ‘You should be able to work out the rest. Contact me by this number and we’ll set up a meeting. The lab must be shut down.’

‘I can’t agree more,’ Hank huffed, put the drive in his pocket and then grumbled, ‘Care to show me the way out of your maze?’

 

North made a noise which sounded much like a wheeze and when Hank glanced at her murderously, she had an insolence of pretending to cough. Fucking androids.

 

‘Come on, old man. I’ll show you out.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: i had a nightmare about a giant android spider  
> my brain: u wanted to adopt it and pet it  
> me: it was still a nightmare, these things do not exist


End file.
